Police exploit loophole in law

Cairo: When Egypt lifted its emergency law earlier this week there was one glaring exception: the case of "thuggery".

Rights activists say this leaves a loophole for police to continue to use exceptional powers to arrest and detain civilians without cause.

Ending the three-decade-long state of emergency that was a tool of repression for former President Hosni Mubarak was a main demand of the uprising that began a year ago on Wednesday and swept him from power just 18 days later.

It gives police broad powers to arrest and indefinitely detain without warrants, makes gatherings illegal, and allows civilians to be tried in exceptional courts. It was often used to arrest and detain members and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood is now the single most powerful political force in Egypt, and controls a plurality of seats in the new parliament. But the Islamist movement has signalled that it will not confront the military on this issue, with one leader saying on Wednesday that martial law is still necessary to maintain law and order in Egypt's post-Mubarak transition.

Just what is "thuggery"? Rights activists said that Field Marshal Hussain Tantawi's announcement on Tuesday echoed Mubarak's declaration in 2010 that the emergency law would only be applied in cases of terrorism and drug trafficking.

That promise was routinely violated, as police continued to use the law to arrest and detain anyone it chose. "For us the state of emergency has not been lifted," says Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

But Essam Al Erian, a leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, calls Tantawi's announcement a "good step" that was long overdue. He added that parliament would monitor the use of the law.

— Christian Science Monitor